La Pâtisserie du Meurice اثر سدریک گرولت

Cedric Grolet Le Meurice is renowned for its exquisite pastries, and while our previous experience during the pandemic was seamless with no queues, this time we encountered a bit of a wait. Unfortunately, by the time we reached the front, many of the options had already sold out. Opting for the pistachio pastry, we found it to be just okay, lacking the wow factor we experienced with previous fruity options like strawberry and peach. If you're planning a visit, I'd recommend arriving early to secure your favorite fruity options for a more satisfying.

We have tasted the pistachio, pistachio cookie and the cabosse.
We were so surprised that the 2 pistachio desserts tasted very different and yet both are incredibly the most pistachio experience we had so far.
The "fruit" pistachio is more to the salty side of the pistachio and very soft texture. The cookie is more to the caramel side that pistachio can have in sweets and has a more crunchy experience in the mouth. Both amazing.

The cabosse is not an intense chocolate flavor, but it has layers of flavors that can only appear when the chocolate is not an intense punch. Perfect.

The price is high? Definitely. But it is worth to try.

My recent visit to Cedric Grolet's bakery in Paris left me with mixed feelings, especially after trying their much-hyped pizza cookie slice. Despite the long queue outside, the reality inside didn't quite live up to the buzz.

We went for the maple pecan flavor, hoping for something special, but it turned out to be just a regular cookie with chocolate frosting and some nuts on top. The nuts tasted a bit bitter, and the frosting was way too sweet for my liking. I couldn't even finish it on my own. If you're into super sweet treats, you might enjoy it, though.

While there were other tempting desserts on display, we didn't get to try them because we were set on the cookie slice. But the wait of around 30 to 40 minutes just to get our number, only to find out that most flavors were sold out by the time we got in, was a major letdown. We missed out on trying the pistachio flavor, which was disappointing.

At €5 per slice, it's not too pricey, but it's definitely not worth the long wait. If you decide to give it a go, just be prepared for a potentially underwhelming experience. And maybe consider exploring other dessert options at the bakery instead of pinning all your hopes on the pizza cookie slice.

Paris is the cradle of practically everything related to gastronomy and pastry is no exception. This time around I wanted to try Grolet’s creations. I’m usually weary of big media hypes so I didn’t go in with high expectations, I was merely curious and wanted to try and see for myself. I wasn’t going to waste half of my day waiting in line so I opted for the Click and Collect.

Beautiful? Certainly. However, definitely overhyped: the taste is not as interesting as the look.
Here’s what we got:
- The pistachio tarte (sweet pastry, pistachio cream, crispy fleur de sel pistachio praline, creamy vanilla caramel, runny pistachio praline, mousse infused with Sicilian pistachio paste). The portion is generous and is big enough for 3 persons to share. However, each one of us had one taste and none of us wanted seconds. So two thirds of the desert was left untouched. The big issue with it is creaminess and sweetness. The taste is not layered and feels really heavy.

- Next was the “Noisette” the Hazelnut (Hazelnut paste mousse, hazelnut praline, hazelnut gianduja, hazelnut caramel, crunchy hazelnut chips). The portion is for one person, but Al three of us had a sample and none came back for seconds. Same impression as the above applies.

- Last was the chocolate “Noisette” (Milk chocolate shell, crispy hazelnut fleur de sel praline). This one was my favorite to look at. But again, nothing too special, and again, really sweet.

All in all, this is something to try once for me.

So I was on a mission to see what the hype with #cedricgrolet pastries was all about. During my last trip I had one and it was pretty good. So in the interest of fairness and making sure I had a large enough sample size I ordered and tested 4 additional pieces. All were beautifully executed and presented. Pick up for them was better at the Le Meurice outlet than the Opera one. Packaging was also much better at Le Meurice. For the price charged the pick up experience and presentation was more in keeping with the Le Meurice outlet.

Of the 4, only the rosemary chocolate one lived up to expectation. The hint of rosemary gave it an intriguing depth. The lemon yuzu meringue was way too tart and sharp. The coconut did not have a strong enough coconut flavor to make it distinctive. The pear was just normal and what you would expect a pear tartin to taste like, in other words, nothing special.

So my take? Was it worth it? Depends on the flavor. The eye candy aspect of the exquisite presentation of the pastries themselves, definitely.

Would I get them again? Probably not. Very expensive for not that special a taste. Don’t get me wrong, they were ok. Were they good enough to justify a repeat? If you have deep pockets certainly.

Only one last mission left unless I visit London soon is to try a couple from his Singapore outlet. Keep you posted. #manektravels #maneklady #manekeats

The review is based on a pre-booked order of a series of fruit pieces. I want to start off by saying that the goods coped really well with a rather long flight within Europe. At pickup the store was empty, with no queue in sight. I was ushered in by a very kind person, who also allowed me to take pictures of the façade. In the hallway, I was greeted by another member of the staff, who retrieved the order, collected it and showed it to me. He then proceeded to pack it and further gave me tips for optimal storage and serving. We tried the pear tatin, the kumquat and the pine nut. Even thought all of them were exquisite in their own distinct way, I believe that the pine nut was absolutely one of the best sweets (if not the best) I have ever eaten. It was pure perfection, including the sharp but short-lasting salty note. These treats are definitely expensive but I guess they should regarded more as art than “simple” excellent baking skills. Thank you thank you thank you!

Craving these desserts all over again! These pictures were taken on our trip to Paris in 2018, when it almost felt like I wanted to try these desserts as much as wanting to see the Eiffel Tower.
A must visit to complete a romantic getaway. So much effort goes into the making, filled with layers of complex flavours that are so well balanced. The taste lingers on in your memory for years!